4 Strokin' (shop built gasser)

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Deanofid

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This is an engine I built a few years back when I had a bad case of "4-stroke-itus". Sorry, but I only have a few old pics from a 1mb digicam of the build process, so I won't put them here, but I do have some recent pics of it with a better camera that I can share. I had never taken a video of this one running until today.
It's an atmospheric intake flat head, 3/4" bore and 1" stroke. Cylinder is 12L14 and piston is aluminum with one cast iron ring. Lube is by splash, and the crank case holds about 1 1/2 ounces of motor oil. Rod is aluminum, crank is steel, timing gears made on the lathe. Runs on Coleman or naphtha.

I never got around to making a nice stand for it, but lately have been thinking about something to display it better than a pine board. Haven't got that done yet, but, hey, it's only been six or seven years... So, here it is, loose batteries and fuel tank, but a runner. Doesn't go very fast, but sounds decent. Has about 10 hours running time on it.

(Probably due for an oil change...) ;)

Here are a couple of stills, and a vid.

3.jpg



4.jpg



[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHzl1qj7ro0[/ame]
 
Dangggggg, that is a fine sounding engine. Speed isn't everything in engines. Some of the best one are the slow moving ones.

Are the plans for this one available?
 
I agree, that is one nice sounding and running model ;D. What is the availability of the drawings and where are they from?

BC1
Jim
 
Eh, the "plans" are in my noggin. I have a few basic sketches around here somewhere, probably buried under about six years of other sketches and scratch sheets in the shop. I'll look for them over the next few days.

Thanks for the comments!

Dean
 
Nice pictures and and video Dean.
Great engine! Thm:

I couldn't help but notice the battle scared left
thumb nail. Looks like we get our manicures in
similar shops.
Rof}

Rick
 


rake60 said:
I couldn't help but notice the battle scared left
thumb nail. Looks like we get our manicures in
similar shops.

Rick

Yeah.. I thought about changing shops, but the price was right where I got this one.
Was a fast job, too. Only took a second!

Dean
 
Thas a good un bor, as we say here in Norfolk, England.

Mo, :bow:
 
Dean, I'm going to have to play(?) stupid here and inquire what the purpose of that Red wire is? One end appears to be merely draped or 'hang' over the condenser wire while the other goes off to some point in the breaker block. For the life of me I do not understand its function. Be gentle now, I do not have a great deal of experience in the model IC engine arena.

BC1
Jim
 
Dean,

Very Nice :bow: :bow:

It has a really great sound and is very smooth.

Best Regards
Bob
 
This morning while in the porcelain library I notice a similar engine on the back cover of MEB mag. Bob Shore's plans "little angel" Sherline ad (same thing but different)
Tony
 
Well, I figured if I stared :-\ at it long enough I could possibly figure it out and Eureka! :noidea: That wire is the pos. battery connection, it was just not terminated to to connector. DOH!!!

BC!
Jim
 
You got it, Jim, close enough anyway. It goes to one terminal of the coil. Other coil terminal to one batt post. Second batt post to ground on the crankcase. I had just clipped the connector off and wrapped it around the condenser to tidy it up for the still pics.

Dean
 
Dean, what if any (yeah right) difficulties did you encounter in erecting such afine example of an engine? What did you use to inspire its design? I really enjoy the what appears to be blackened cylinder against the round crankcase as well.

BC1
Jim
 
Lovely engine Dean Thm: - And I'm most impressed by it's sound as well 8)

Regards, Arnold
 
bearcar1 said:
Dean, what if any (yeah right) difficulties did you encounter in erecting such afine example of an engine? What did you use to inspire its design? I really enjoy the what appears to be blackened cylinder against the round crankcase as well.

BC1
Jim

Jim, I think the cylinder looks darker than it really is because it's against the very bright aluminum crankcase. It's just bare metal, which may be a little darker than it was originally just from being exposed to the air, and having been hot from running it.

It wasn't really very hard to make. Of course, that has to be measured against how long a person has been at this machining game. The pickiest things are probably the valves and valve body. They are not hard to make, but they take time, and must be made right. The cam lobe took me a while, and I made two of them slightly different to try. The first one worked and the second is somewhere in the bottom of a parts box in the shop. I made three venturi/jet/inlet/carb variations before I got the one you see in the pics. That is because I didn't follow the foot steps of others, like Phil Duclos. He had perfectly good carbs in a number of his articles, and I tried my own way, twice.

I made this engine very similar to one I saw in a book called "Metal Work, a Book of Tools, Materials and Processes for the Handyman", edited by Paul Hasluck. They used to be sold by Lindsays. Don't know if they still have 'em.
The article is called "Building a Petrol Motor". It's for a huge engine by modeling standards, and he shows drawings of the castings. The crankcase and cylinder on my engine were made very similar to what he describes, but of course, with no castings, and a lot of changes because of that. You'll definitely see that the crankcase is based on that engine.

I'm still looking for the sketch drawings I did for this. When I find them, I'll put them up. If someone really wants to build it, maybe I'll take it apart this winter and take measurements.

Dean
 
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